CLEANERS and porters at Watford General Hospital are set to stage further protests next week in a dispute over pay, GMB announced yesterday.

The union said the workers receive less than the living wage of £8.45 an hour set by the Living Wage Foundation, rather than NHS rates of £9.40 per hour.

GMB regional organiser Mick Dooley said that hospital bosses did not recognise the hourly rate quoted by the union, but it was an “undeniable fact” that hundreds of workers at the hospital were paid just 10p more than the legal minimum wage of £7.20.

He added: “Workers do not want to go on strike because it is not beneficial to the patients they care for, so their only option is to protest until their voice is heard.

“However, unless something changes, there might be no other option but to go on strike.”

The protest will take place Watford General Hospital from noon on December 21 and GMB warned that more widespread action was likely to follow unless the dispute was resolved.